² There will come a time in the last days
    when the mountain where the Eternal’s house stands
Will become the highest, most magnificent—
    grander than any of the mountains around it.
And all the nations of the world will run there,
    wanting to see it, feel it, fully experience it.
³ Many people of all languages, colors, and creeds will come.

People: Come! Let’s go to the Eternal’s mountain,
        to the house of the God of Jacob,
    So that we might learn from Him how best to be,
        to go along in life as He would have us go.

After all, the law will pour out from Zion,
    the word of the Eternal, from Jerusalem.
⁴ God will decide what’s fair among nations
    and settle disputes among all sorts of people.
Meanwhile, they will hammer their swords into sickles,
    reshape their spears into pruning hooks.
One nation will not attack another.
    They will not practice war anymore.

Isaiah sees an amazing picture of the future, a future which only God can create. In that vision, Jerusalem and the temple of the only God will sit on the highest mountain at the center of the world. In that day, all the nations of the world will stream to the holy city and seek God’s guidance and instruction. God will sit as King and Judge, dispensing real justice—not some man-made counterfeit—not only in international but also local matters. Perhaps, most amazingly for a world weary of war, this will be a time when war is a thing of the past and its lethal instruments are turned into tools for life and peace.

⁵ O house of Jacob—people of the promise—come, come walk with me
    by the light of the Eternal.
⁶ See, You have abandoned Your people,^[a]
    the house of Jacob!
For they have taken on attitudes and postures of other cultures,
    imitating anyone and anything that crosses their path
Practicing divination like the Philistines,
    making deals with outsiders.
⁷ Their land is full of silver and gold,
    rich with mind-boggling wealth.
Their countryside is full of warhorses;
    there are more chariots than you can count.
⁸ Their land is full of worthless idols.
    They worship their own creations;
They bow down to what they have made, bought, and sold.
⁹ But now the people will be humbled, reminded of their simplicity and limits—
    don’t just absolve them!
¹⁰ Get into the caves, hide in the dust,
    in the face of the Eternal’s terrifying Self,
    in the face of His dread and enormous majesty.
¹¹ The bubble of human pride will be burst;
    the arrogant will be pulled down from their pedestals.
Then, finally, the Eternal, no one and nothing else,
    will be the center of attention, lifted up in high esteem.